Located in the Seto inland sea, the island of Itsukushima has been a Shintoism holy place as far back as the earliest times. The initial shrine buildings here were possibly constructed in the 6th century. The shrine we see today dates back to the 13th century; its harmoniously assembled buildings disclose great artistic and technical skill. Playing on the contrasts in colour and form between mountains and sea, the shrine exemplifies the Japanese notion of scenic beauty - coalescing nature and human creativity. --WHMNet paraphrase from the description at WHC Site, where additional information is available.

Itsukushima Shrine (Japanese: 厳島神社, Itsukushima Jinja) is a Shinto shrine on the island of Itsukushima in the city of Hatsukaichi in Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Japanese government has designated several buildings and possessions as national treasures. --Wikipedia. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.